Elden Ring: A discussion on the differences between accessibility and game design
Sarah Doyle
Thursday 12th May 2022
In the wake of the incredibly well received Elden Ring by From Software, a recurring conversation relating to the difficulty of the game has once again been stirring up critics and fans alike.
The topics of game difficulty and 'easy' modes are incredibly divisive amongst gamers, and some of the accessibility issues unfortunately seem to have been swept up into this narrative and misunderstood. So, using Elden Ring as a starting point, let's take a look at how accessibility is often misunderstood, what it actually is, what that means for development and how to have positive and inclusive conversations in the future.
Series director Hidetaka Miyazaki's interview with PlayStation kicked this latest discussion off when he said: "We don't try to force difficulty or make things hard for the sake of it. We want players to use their cunning, study the game, memorise what's happening, and learn from their mistakes. We don't want players to feel like the game is unfairly punishing, but rather that there's a chance to win a difficult encounter and make progress.
Sarah Doyle, Kids Industries
"We understand that Souls-like games are regularly associated with impossible levels of difficulty with high barriers to entry. But we try to design the games to make the cycle of repeatedly trying to overcome these challenges enjoyable in itself."
Understandably, the immediate response from the fanbase was, of course, a passionate defence of the difficulty of the series and design of the game, arguing that players need to persevere through the bosses and that the beauty of Elden Ring lies in the freedom and ability to go wherever you want in a vast open world, as From Software intended. Indeed, this is a game
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